


the proof of the pudding is in the eating

by Aiskuriimuneko



Series: BakuShorts [2]
Category: Bakugan Battle Brawlers
Genre: Crack Fic, Gen, shinjiro manages to convert another to his cause, soon he'll have an entire army and he becomes the antagonist of s5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 09:48:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,228
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29133564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aiskuriimuneko/pseuds/Aiskuriimuneko
Summary: Episode 35 of New Vestroia but there's a twist. Written for Hydron Appreciation Week.
Series: BakuShorts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2139939
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	the proof of the pudding is in the eating

Hydron was on the lookout for any of the Resistance members or the Brawlers, while disguised as local law enforcement along with Shadow. As a prince, he easily stood apart from everyone else but in this lowly attire, there was no way his cover would be blown. As he traversed the streets of Wardington, observing the human pedestrians with their strange clothes, hair colors and different set of eyes, he failed to see where he was going and ran smack into somebody. Whatever the person was carrying in his grocery bags scattered around on the pavement, while the two recovered from their unexpected collision.

“Ugh, watch where you’re going!” Hydron hissed irritably. Rubbing his face, his eyes sent daggers at the person who had walked into him. It appeared to be a much older man with short dark hair and glasses, wearing a suit. Though it was a force of habit, Hydron instantly felt regret from being so snappish. If he got into an argument with a human, surely they would discover he wasn’t one of them. An apology quickly formed on his tongue when the human merely laughed and rubbed his neck in a sheepish fashion.

“Sorry! Didn’t mean to run into you, officer,” he apologized with a bow. Hydron blinked, clearly not expecting this sort of treatment here. Had the human not addressed him as ‘officer’, he would have thought his royal status had been exposed for sure.

“. . .no harm done,” Hydron added lamely, unsure if he should return the bow or not. He hadn’t bothered to research human customs prior to his arrival on Earth, as he had figured his mission here would be over quickly. Besides, there were so many subcategories below the species as a whole. Surely, he mused, law enforcement needn’t return the courtesy they are due from civilians? While Hydron was ruminating about this, the man was picking up the scattered items that laid across the pavement.

Stiffly, Hydron bent down to aid the human in his efforts. It was the least he could do, he reasoned. While he helped, Hydron decided to inspect one of the odd cups that he believed to be some sort of food item. His eyes caught the label.

“P…pud-ding?” he said, testing out the word. Never heard of it.

“That’s right!” the man replied cheerfully, seemingly oblivious to Hydron’s confusion. “The supermarket across the street had a sale on pudding so I _had_ to help myself,” the bespectacled man laughed, like he had just been told a brilliant joke. It was weird. Hydron frowned, inspecting the cup further. The writing on the side made absolutely no sense to him. These ingredients sounded ludicrous, and he worried that should he read them aloud, he would accidentally call upon rain or something. 

“What is a pudding?” he asked, curiosity getting the better of him. Shoot.

The reaction he received from the human told him enough of how bad of a slip up that was. On one hand, his face was so full of genuine surprise that Hydron feared it was not only common knowledge on this planet, but extremely out of character for a fellow human not to know. On the other hand, the man looked as if he was dying to drop some pudding lore onto him, whatever that lore entailed.

“You’ve _never_ heard of pudding?” he gaped.

Hydron felt like his heart was caught in his throat. He quickly tried to think of a nonchalant reply, all the while millions of thoughts were crying out, _I’m going to be found out_. 

“I—” he stammered out but before he could formulate a decent response (or likely, fail to do such), the man rummaged around in one of his plastic bags for something. He pulled out a pudding cup with a packaging that appeared a little more elegant than the plain cups they had been gathering together on the ground. He held it out for Hydron who could only blink at the offered item owlishly.

“What?” he prompted, confused.

“Here, try it.”

 _Try it?_ Hydron took the cup and frowned at it. No, he didn’t think so. Earth food could be detrimental to his sensitive palate. And this was more than likely commoner food too. A deadly combination. “I think I’ll pass.”

“No, no, I insist!” the man said. “Pudding is a heavenly treat and I’d hate for you to miss out on it. I was saving this one for a special occasion, but I want you to have it.”

Hydron took a look at the dozens of pudding cups they had gathered in a pile, one blonde eyebrow perched questioningly. _Saving it for a special occasion? I’m sure there were no cups left standing after your recent pudding raid._ “Sir, I think you might have a problem.”

The man laughed at that, which somehow worried Hydron even more. “That might be,” he replied easily and lifted his bags full of pudding for emphasis. “but that’s nothing a little pudding can’t fix!”

 _No, I think that’s exactly what pudding can’t fix. Are you getting help?_ Hydron weighed the pudding cup in his hand as he considered his options. Who knew, it might be a harmless delicacy. And besides, the more dessert he got away from this person, the better chances he stood of not ending up in the hospital in the near future. _Call it a royal intervention._

“Okay,” Hydron agreed, smiling. “Can I have another?”

The man nodded, beaming. “Sure thing, take as many as you'd like!”

Interesting _._ “Can I have all of them?”

Another bout of carefree laughter that ended abruptly this time. “No.”

Once they had gathered all the desserts off the sidewalk, the man hastily bid Hydron farewell and told him to keep up the good work. Hydron was unsure as to whether his disguise was that imperceptible or the glasses-wearing human was just that gullible. He was inclined to think the latter. In any case, he was carrying two pudding cups now, one plain and one ‘special’. Hydron couldn’t fathom what the fuss was about but he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t curious. And perhaps also a little touched that someone was willing to give him something they considered special, pudding-obsessed human or not.

He allowed himself a brief moment to examine the pudding, on a bench near the park where he could have some semblance of privacy. He could still pretend to be surveying the area for any crime, if need be. 

He pried the plastic spoon off from the side of the cup and removed the seal on top. What he found inside was a brown custard, which he poked experimentally with the tip of his spoon. It didn’t look that special, or appetizing for that matter. Why he had humored this human’s request, he didn’t know.

Hydron found himself shrugging and guiding a spoonful of pudding into his mouth. The next moment, he found himself overcome with a variety of emotions he hadn’t felt in years, all while crying over how delicious it was.

“Fuck,” he sobbed, wiping at his eyes with the back of his hand. “I _get it_ now.”

The Vexos later received a video call from a very emotionally compromised Hydron, saying he was cutting all ties with the Vestals so he could remain on Earth and live off pudding. They let him.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm gonna look p stupid if hydron actually knows what pudding is lmaoooo
> 
> i've seen maybe. five episodes of new vestroia. and it shows.
> 
> if you squint, maybe you'll find something wholesome in here.


End file.
